Scientists Think Egypt's Great Pyramid Was One Giant Pulley

It was a real pyramid scheme.

For decades, archaeologists have scratched their heads trying to figure out how ancient Egyptians managed to stack 2.3 million limestone blocks—some weighing over 60 tons—into the Great Pyramid. Now, scientists are proposing a theory that's either brilliantly obvious or completely wild, depending on who you ask.

Forget everything you thought you knew about ramps and brute force. A new study published in the journal Nature suggests the builders used a sophisticated pulley and counterweight system to haul those massive blocks into place. And they did it fast.

A Block Every Single Minute

According to the research team's calculations, the entire structure went up in about 20 years. Do the math, and that means workers were placing a block every minute. Every. Single. Minute.

"The construction proposal based on analysis of the pyramid's architecture and masonry is physically advantageous and can explain the fast construction," writes study author Dr. Simon Andreas Scheuring of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Traditional scholarship has long maintained that the builders used construction ramps and built the pyramid layer by layer, from the bottom up. Simple, straightforward, makes sense.

Except Scheuring and his team aren't buying it. They argue that method wouldn't have allowed workers to hoist and install those hefty blocks at the breakneck pace required. The smallest blocks weigh two tons. The biggest? Over 60 tons. Good luck getting that up a ramp every 60 seconds.

Built From the Inside Out

The new theory flips everything. Instead of working from the ground up, the builders supposedly worked from the inside out, starting at the core and using "pulley-like systems fueled by sliding counterweights down sliding-ramps." This would've provided the power and precision needed to lift those hulking blocks to the upper levels.

If true, it's an architectural mic drop.

The team didn't just pull this theory out of thin air. They based it on architectural features inside the pyramid itself, reinterpreting spaces that archaeologists have studied for years.

The Grand Gallery Gets a New Job

Take the Grand Gallery and Ascending Passage. For ages, experts assumed these sloped internal passages were just, well, passages. But Scheuring's team sees them differently—as ramps for the counterweights powering the pulley system.

They point to wear and tear along the walls of the Grand Gallery, plus polished surfaces that suggest sliding sledges, not foot traffic. Those marks tell a story, and it's not about people walking through hallways.

That "Security Room" Wasn't What We Thought

Then there's the Antechamber, the small granite room that archaeologists have long believed housed a security grate designed to keep tomb raiders out.

Scheuring calls that explanation questionable. "The Antechamber's assignment as a portcullis system (vertical sliding grate) is non-functional," he told Artnet. Translation: Why would they purposefully design something that doesn't work when everything else in the pyramid is so precise and deliberate?

According to the study, this chamber was actually a fulcrum in the pulley system—the spot where laborers would hoist the most cumbersome construction components. Think of it as the control center for lifting the heaviest stuff.

The pulley system supposedly featured multiple gears, letting workers adjust to increase lifting power. Basically, they could shift gears like you would on a bike, depending on what they were hauling.

Why Everything Looks Off-Center

Here's another clue: the major passages and chambers inside the pyramid are positioned off-center instead of symmetrical, which is weird for a structure supposedly built from the ground up.

Scheuring theorizes that this off-kilter layout happened because laborers had to build around the mechanical constraints of the pulley systems. They weren't making aesthetic choices—they were working around machinery.

This also explains some of the pyramid's more baffling features, like its convex faces and how the blocks get progressively smaller toward the summit. According to Scheuring, these quirks shed light on "the physics of how the blocks were lifted"—specifically how the lifting points shifted as the pyramid grew and how the stones became lighter the closer they got to the peak.

The Verdict? Still Out

Is this theory right? Who knows. But it's a compelling explanation for how ancient builders pulled off one of history's most impressive construction projects at a pace that would make modern contractors weep.

One thing's certain: calling it a pyramid scheme suddenly feels a lot more accurate.

Did you find this information useful? Feel free to bookmark or to post to your timeline to share with your friends.